We weren’t trying to creep people out, but one thing I have learned now in this digital age is people can be as rude as they want as long as they don’t have to look you in the face. The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that’s a good thing. Could the ads work harder to show exactly how the phone works? Yes, but we knew it would be polarizing people to have a woman not shout at them and tell an interesting story.
–Gary Koepke, co-founder and executive creative director at Modernista, the agency responsible for the Palm Pre’s ad campaign.

People are not talking about the phone. They’re talking about the Palm Pre ads, which apparently freak them out.

The ads have failed to generate any sort of “good” hype around the product. Again, we’re mostly only talking about the ads, not the phone.

After first watching the ad, I was left confused. Sort of a “WTF?!” moment (especially with the ad about reincarnation below the fold). Sure, maybe the ad stands out compared to anything else, but confusion alone is not going to get me to run out and impulsively buy your phone.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely hate seeing good products go down the drain because of bad marketing or a horrible launch. Hopefully, the Palm Pre takes off (and I still don’t think it will anytime soon), because even if you don’t like the product, the iPhone could always use some competition.